Basket

Your basket is currently empty.

Army in Poland

From 1914, German and Austrian forces occupied the former Russian Poland. Whilst the northern part was solely under German occupation, a southern "sandwich" (to the south of Lodz/Warsaw/Lukow, and to the north of Krakow/Tarnow/Jaroslaw) saw occupation by Austrian forces. Initially mobile Feldpost offices were provided for the use of troops, but soon settled Etappenpostamt offices (base offices serving the postal network) were opened in the major towns. Feldpost mail also exists from garrisons and hospitals in Galicia (now Poland), which was then still part of the Austrian Empire.

Etappenpostamt Offices in Poland

From 1915, various Feldpost offices were converted into fixed Etappenpostamt offices in the part of Russian Poland in Austrian military possession. The offices were as follows:ANNOPOL LUBELSKIBELCHATOWBELZYCEBIALOBRZEGI Kreis RadomBILGORAJBUSK in POLENCHECINYCHELM (earlier CHOLM)CHOLM (later CHELM)CHMIELNIKDABROWA in POLENDEBLIN (or DEBLIN in POLEN)DZIALOSZYCEDZIALOSZYN (a different town from Dzialoszyce)GORZKOWICEGRANICAGRUBIESZOW (later HRUBIESZOW)HRUBIESZOW (originally GRUBIESZOW)ILZAIWANISKA in POLENJANOW in POLENJEDLINSKJEDRZEJOWKAZIMIERZA WIELKAKIELCEKLIMONTOWKLOMNICEKONIECPOLKONSKKOPRZYWNICAKOZIENICEKRASNIKKRASNOSTAWLASZCZOWLECZNALIPSKOLUBARTOWLUBLINMIECHOWNOWA BRZEZNICANOWO ALEKSANDRYANOWORADOMSKNOWY KORCZYNOLKUSZOPATOW in POLENOPOCZNO in POLENOPOLE KREIS PULAWYOSSYAKOWOSTROWIECOZAROW KREIS OPATOW in POLENPAJECZNOPIASKI KREIS LUBLINPILICAPINCZOWPIOTRKOWPRADLAPROSZOWICEPRZEDBORZ KREIS KONKPRZYSUCHAPULAWYRADOMRADOSZYCE Kreis KonskRUDNIKISANDOMIERZSILNICZKASKALA in POLENSKALBMIERZSKARYSZEW in POLENSKARZYSKOSLAWKOW in POLENSLOMNIKISOLEC KREIS WIERZBNIKSTASZOWSTOPNICASTRZEMIESZYCESUCHEDNIOWSULEJOWSZCZEBRZESZYNSZCZEKOCINYSZCZERCOWSZYDLOWSZYDLOWIEC (a different town from Szydlow)TARNOGRADTOMASZOW (later TOMASZOW Kreis Tomaszow)WAWOLNICAWIDAWAWIERZBNIKWLOSZCZOWAWODZISLAWWOLBORZWOLBROMZAKLIKOWZAMOSCZARKIZAWICHOSTZWIERZYNIEC Kreis ZamoscFurther reading : "Stempel-Handbuch der K.u.k. Feldpost in Osterreich-Ungarn 1914-1918" by Herwig Rainer

Polish Legion

In August 1914 two Polish Legions (Eastern and Western) were formed from Polish speaking volunteers and conscripts from Galicia, under the leadership of General Pilsudski. The Eastern legion was disbanded after defeats by the Russians in Galicia. Three brigades of the Western Legion fought in Galicia and the Carpathian mountains in 1915. During 1915 and 1916 units also operated in other areas of Poland in an auxiliary role. Most Austrian military mail that can be identified with the Polish Legion comes from this period. During this period the Austro-Hungarian and German armies were operating as a joint operation, albeit with some friction over conflicting interests. However, in July 1917 Pilsudski declined to pledge loyalty to the German Kaiser, and as a result 15,000 Polish Legion forces were interned by the Germans at Beniaminow (near Warsaw) and at Szczypiorno (near Kalisz), while the remaining 3000 men were sent to the Austro-Hungarian front in Italy where anti-German sympathies would be less problematic.The following KuK HAUPTFELDPOSTAMT (HQ offices), KuK FELDPOSTAMT (normal FPO near the front) or KuK ETAPPENPOSTAMT (supporting offices not at the front) are known on mail from men in the Polish Legion. All of these military post offices may have carried mail from other (non-Polish) units, and from 1917 most of the Legion was interned in Poland, therefore it is important to check the mail item bears a mention of the Polish Legion in the sender address, or has message text in Polish. The following is a list of FPOs known to have carried mail (with date period if known) from the Polish Legion forces. The dates given are those when the postmark was in use, but other units of the Austrian Army may have used the postmark outside the period when the Legion was active. E = KuK ETAPPENPOSTAMT; F = KuK FELDPOSTAMT; H = KuK HAUPTFELDPOSTAMT.